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7 posts from December 2010

December 30, 2010

To my dear art fans. I'm traveling around the Northern continent again starting January 12th. I start by going to Guadalajara for an exhibit and workshop. I'll post those details when I get them.

Then I'm off to WASHINGTON DC for a show about immigration where I have 5 prints. Info here:

Magic of the Melting Pot The Studio Gallery2108 R Street NW Dupont Circlewww.studiogallerydc.com My Artist Talk is on January 20th @ 7 pm! Show opens on Friday January 7, 2011 6-9 p.m., but I won't be at the opening. Painters, Pacifists, Revolutionists and Dreamers have all contributed to the beauty of Art and Culture in America. Coming from all corners of the world, the artists in the show include Solomon Wondimu, Susan Cho, Natalie Guerrieri, Cesar Maxit , Graham Boyle, and more.

Then its LOS ANGELES, to collaborate with some of my favorite artists on a show, including John Carr, Yuri Shimojo, Augustine Kofie and Mike Russek. The show is called, "Edifice Cache." I'll be working on an installation and the public is more than welcome to come see me do my install during gallery hours, Tuesday Feb 1st through Friday Feb 4th, 12-6 pm.

There will be openings for the other artists each Saturday from 5-8pm starting on Jan. 22nd. The concept of Edifice Cache is based on the idea of Exquisite Corpse whereby a work of art is created through the collaboration of a group of artists who will add their work to components of -in this case- a single installation in sequence. Mike Russek, an L.A. based artist and designer will provide the basis in the form of an evolving installation. As the artists work on creating the installation -the Edifice- their processes will be recorded on camera and will be on display as the memory component -Cache- of the exhibit.

Come by and see me if you are in any of these locations! Also, be sure to follow me on twitter to know where I'm headed next.

December 28, 2010

Four years ago in 2007, around this time, I could hardly muster the energy to do anything except lay in bed. I was in one of the lowest and most difficult points in my life. Two moments collided that Christmas. My relationship of seven years had ended and my beloved was in another state - so we were in anguish in opposite parts of the country. My dear cousin of only 20 years old died that holiday as well, he had fallen from a mountain he was climbing. I could not stop crying, and the holidays made it worst.

Since then, everytime the winter holidays come around I brace myself for some hard moments. 2008 was still a challenge, especially in the days between Xmas and New Years, while 2009 was only a tiny bit easier. But in 2010, something began to change. I began to imagine new possibilites for my future and I learned how to feel comfortable in my own space. Three years later, and I was just beginning to get over it. Now in 2010, I realize I am another person completely. I look back on those moments and realize that while the transition was hard, I'm glad it happened and I don't like to look back at it, I prefer to look forward.

I was going through the art I made during that time, and I came across Separacion. This is a print I completed during that intense time when I was undergoing the physical and emotional separation. In those conditions, one finds it hard to imagine another possibility for love, the hours pass very slowly.... at that time my motivation to create work was extremely low, however, I managed to create this piece, which became an outlet for me. I pushed and pushed myself, and made myself a promise to complete whatever came to my mind.

In this image, my heart is floating out of my body. It has been separated, and I am in pain as though a limb has been removed.

This piece is one of my favorites of all time. It taught me that...

Out of troubling moments, beauty emerges. Out of hardship, new opportunies are born. Failure is a part of life.

December 27, 2010

As the year wraps up, I've been speding time organizing the loose ends that will help me have a more simpler 2011. I'm deleting and throwing out loads of stuff, deleting emails that I wont respond to, eliminating megabytes of photos, deleting files, giving away books, and most importantly, mentally preparing myself for better ways to juggle my career that won't kill me or cause me a nervous breakdown. (photo on right: new linoleum block in progress)

The stress and fast-paced work life I endured is 2010 is unsustainable. I learned the hard way, like so many others. I was making a mental count of how many days in a row I was bouncing from city to city, and what I remember most was how tired I was. It's not like I got to a new city and went to cool museums, nope - its more like I would board a flight, with 2-3 hours sleep, get a to a city, lecture, work, eat on the go, and then sleep for another few hours to do another day of rapid work.

That's not a good quality of life, that's a lack of life/work balance.

So what I have realized I need to do is return to the simple things that make me happy. Overall, to have a more simpler life in ALL aspects - physical and mental.

(photo above: tearing paper in studio)

The biggest complaints friends and family have about me is my lack of availability. So I have tried to address this by gradually learning to say no, to have less meetings or have them via phone, and not book stuff back to back, including exhibits, visits, lectures and trips. In one of my favorite blogs, Zen Habits, the author explains the need to have more "white space" in life.He explains:

"When our lives are cramped, and our homes and workspaces are cluttered, we feel stressed. When we have fewer things on our schedule and fewer things around us, we feel peaceful."

This concept also applies to consumerism and the many things we own. Given that I have a very nomadic lifestyle, I'm good at knowing what my essentials are and have really decreased the amount of stuff I buy. I try not to buy new things, and prefer recyled clothing, books, electronics, and materials. I cancelled a credit card because I got tired of keeping track of one more thing. I'm going paperless on as many bills as possible so that I can cut down the mail I get, and I have given away about 1/3 of my books to prisoner book programs. I'm working hard on having less so that my space is not so cramped, and so that I don't have to keep track of stuff and therefore, I have more room for other things in life.

I also am trying to keep my 2011 year plans simple. So it means less shorter trips and more longer trips, so that I can spend time in a place and really learn their personality, not whiz through when I'm barely awake.

And of course, the need to simplify applies to the time I spend with people I love. It means more time with my family and friends, and time doing things where we talk and learn about each other, not sitting in front of a TV. In terms of love, simplicity gives me the ability to be more clear about my intentions and my desires. When I was a teenager, I got involved with all kinds of guys who surrounded themselves with drama - I had boyfriends who had drama with the law, or drama with other people, drama with previous lovers or drama with their inability to keep a job. I ended up absorbing all of that and their problems became my problems, sometimes at a huge cost to my own safety. It would create mental clutter in my brain and it would distract me from things like school and my art.

But in my adult life, I am gradually craving the opposite of that, and instead seek partners who are peace with themselves and are also trying to achieve a work/life balance. In other words, I seek simple things when it comes to love and try to be in the present with my feelings, taking them as they come and not being attached to them.

This new art piece is about that need to simplify. Its a promise I am making to myself. Not sure where I'm going to end up with this commitment but the practice of creating this piece helped me connect with that voice.

December 16, 2010

I just completed a poster for the Europe-based, Global union, Public Services International (PSI).

PSI represents 20 million workers involved in the delivery of public services. About 7 million workers affiliated to PSI work in the health and social care services which are seeing an increasing phenomenon of migration. For this reason, the central image in the piece is that of a health care worker.

Their statement reads:

We cannot treat migration and development without human rights. According to the United Nations, there are around 215 million people today who live and work outside their countries of birth. About half of these international migrants are women, working to support their families and communities back home.

Despite the huge contribution that migrant workers bring to their host and home countries in terms of services, taxes, remittances (currently at $315 billion) and the rich culture they bring, many countries are still far from fulfilling their obligation to protect migrant workers’ rights. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly adoption of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

“It is very concerning to see many countries hesitating to commit to these rights by delaying their ratification of these core human rights instruments and labour standards. There is virtually no country in this world that does not depend on migrant workers to address their workforce needs.”, declares Peter Waldorff, General Secretary of Public Services International.

Download all the languages by clicking here. (scroll to the bottom of the page)

December 15, 2010

My artwork is on the cover of the recent publication, Changing Places: How Communities Will Improve the Health of Boys of Color. The website explains:

The challenges shaping the life chances of boys and young men of color are well-documented but still shocking. This book draws attention to the urgent need—both economic and moral—to better understand the policy and community-based factors that serve as incentives or barriers to young men and boys of color as they make critical life decisions.

The original artwork was developed for a poster about cooking for self determination, which I developed in collaboration with food justice activist, Bryant Terry. You can order an original copy of this poster by clicking here.

I started my blog sub-series last month, and I've been itching to share another of my faves songs, this time by Duran Duran.

I completed this screenprint in April of this year. But the imagery was something I was experimenting with during my time in Vancouver late last year (2009) when I participated in an artist in residency at W2 Media Art Center with two First Nations artists, Marika Swan and Tania Willard. I was exposed to indigenous art forms and imagery from the Coast Salish Territories, including the totem pole.

In my early creative process, I use black ink or rubylith film to create heavy outlines. This is the style I prefer which is influenced by the codices and drawings in both Aztec and Inca indigenous culture. During my time in Vancouver, I began to experiment with stacking faces to create new shapes. I will usually do faces and bodies individually, rarely do I mesh them together. Here is one of my practice sketches on the left.

After a few hours, I landed on the winning image that became this piece.

Swarthmore College had comissioned this piece for their Intercultural Awards, which they do once a year, and so I was aiming at developing an image about collaboration, growth, and community. The person at the lower part of the drawing is holding a life force in her hand (this came to me in the final piece). She is making sure it circulates to others in the group.

My favorite character is the 2nd one up from the bottom. He reminds me of a beaver.

When it came time to name the piece, I wanted to allude to the land, and to the planet itself. So in keeping with my practice of naming my pieces after my favorite 80's songs, the title became "This Is Planet Earth."

While this image is about people working together, there are strong undertones in it about caring for our Mother Earth, our Pachamama. While I was drawing, I had in mind a type of "Earth Warrior." This was of course influenced by the time I spent in Vancouver, which was shortly before the Winter Olympics. The indigenous communities were fighting the Olympics and demanding that they not take place on stolen lands.

You can find this piece and more at my event tomorrow. If you are in the Bay Area - see u there. Go Duran Duran!

As many of you may know, most of my art-activism this year has been in immigrant rights, and I've directly witnessed how anti-immigrant policies affect children, even traumatize them. Earlier this year I wrote about a young girl I met in Arizona, Catherine. You can read about her story by clicking here.

This was a hard year for immigrant families in Arizona. Not only did the state pass SB 1070, but also it alone accounted for a shocking 20% of the nearly 26,000 deportations this year under the 287g federal program.

That means more than 5500 immigrants were pushed out of our community, many of them parents, homeowners, workers, and our neighbors.

Children are deeply affected by these policies. For this reason I'm helping to organize a Toy Drive for children in Arizona. and recently designed the poster you see above.

There are 3 easy ways you can help out:

1) Donate online by clicking here2) Get out your cell-phone & text "ARIZONA" to 50555 to donate $5 to help purchase toys, or3) Donate a toy at one of our drop off locations. Get a list by by clicking here

Your contribution will be delivered to children and families on December 18th in Phoenix, Arizona, where the largest concentration of deportations has taken place. PUENTE, a grassroots organization in Phoenix, will be hosting a traditional Posada Celebration on this day, which is also International Migrants Day!

This project is being speardeaded by the Sound Strike, which was founded by musician Zach de la Rocha of the band Rage Against the Machine to fight hate in Arizona. I'm excited to be participating in the Toy Drive next week!